Women in Business Profile: Miryal

Kim Thompson grew up in the Lindsay area and still lives in Kawartha Lakes to this day. She and her husband, Chris Cookman, and son Jacob Cookman, own three businesses, Stigma Style Landscaping Inc., located in the Kawarthas and Greenbank Garden Centre and Cookman Corporation, located in Durham Region.

Kim’s passion of late though has to do with a new innovation she sells across Canada, sold in over 32 retail outlets, and used by growers and landscapers – an incredible discovery from a few short years ago about the power of mycorrhizae.

These are ‘helpful fungi’ in layman’s terms, something that creates an incredibly mutual beneficial relationship between fungi and plant roots.

Thompson knew if someone could harness that power, to capture it for wide-scale use as a way to help things grow, and trap mineral nutrients and water for the plant, it could be a game changer. If that could occur, it could prevent the wholesale use of harmful, synthetic fertilizers.

She contacted leading Canadian soil scientist Dr. Leanne Philip, and Kim partnered with BioSyneterra Solutions Inc., based in Quebec and an all-natural probiotic called Miryal ® was developed, changing everything in her field.

This ground-breaking product is what allowed Miryal® – now a registered trademark and is CFIA approved — to be brought to market.

The uses for Miryal® (pronounced Mye-ril) are innumerable, Thompson says, from gardeners, big and small landscape companies, farmers, plant and tree nursery owners, wetland experts, municipalities – and so many more.

“With Miryal®, I feel so passionately that this is an amazing product for the environment.

How incredible would it be if this was widely used instead of fertilizers?” she points out.

Kim is quick to note that it is the hard work ethic of her team and passion for getting it “right the first time”, and her customers’ loyalty, that has led to the success of her businesses.